The Marauders and the Fountain of Luck
by EatChocolate
Summary: Another kiss and Remus stands alone. Loved, but at the mercy of the full moon. - REMUS POV - This is the first part of a long story to come. The first year of our beloved four troublemakers contains a lot of untold happenings that I promise will not bore you!


_**Remus Lupin and the fountain of luck**_

Remus POV

* * *

_Author's Note:_

_This is the first part of a long story to come. _

_The first year of our beloved four troublemakers contains a lot of untold happenings that I promise will not bore you!_

_The first year will get told out of Remus' POV, the second will be out of Sirius', the third will be James' and the fourth will get told out of Peter's and then it starts again with Remus'- _

_It will contain 8 fanfictions. Seven for seven years at Hogwarts and one for Post-Hogwarts. I'll try to make it as canon as possible, but I will also insist on my artistic freedom to write the story how I want it to be written. _

_DISCLAIMER: I neither own the characters nor the settings of Harry Potter. That beongs all to JK Rowling! _

* * *

** LETTER **

Mr. and Mrs. Lupin were never ones, who people would have described as normal, well, at least Mr. Lupin never was. Hope Lupin on the other hand, was born as Hope Howell in beautiful Wales and had a life that everyone around her would have pictured as ordinary. She always was a very imaginative woman, but she never would have thought that life can change so drastically by just a single encounter. That changed, however, as soon as she met her future husband, Lyall Lupin, because Lyall Lupin is a wizard and so Hope learnt all about the wizarding world, she was going to be a part of.

Today they're both living far away from society. They own a small, shabby house at the very edge of a nearly unoccupied village in the countryside of England. They're neither rich nor popular and even amongst the wizards their life wouldn't be considered normal.

Their only child, a young boy named Remus Lupin, was bitten and turned into a werewolf at the age of four. Due to his condition the boy looks often as pale as a ghost, while two long scars cover his face. After every full moon a new scar, small or big, can be found somewhere on his body. Werewolves are usually shunned by society and regarded with fear and distrust within the wizarding world. Lyall and Hope are trying to protect their son from the consequences of those prejudices by keeping his condition a secret. This, unfortunately, includes a lot of sacrifices.

Not only has Remus to bear the painful effects of his lycanthropy, but also the loneliness, which goes hand in hand with the secrecy. He would never be able to enjoy the support of a friend or the satisfaction of a loved job, let alone the variety of experiences during school with Remus being an inquisitive boy with a brilliant mind. His nose always sticks in a book - or two … or three, and it's hard for his parents to satisfy his curiosity, but they try to tutoring him at home as good as they can. His mother would teach him everything that non-magic children would have to learn as well, things like languages and math, while his father would concentrate on the magical part. He would love nothing more, though, than to go to a real wizarding school and meet other children.

He is well aware that this will remain a dream. He accepted that a long time ago.

He reads the letter again, very carefully.

It would be far too dangerous for the other students.

He stumbles over every word for at least the sixth time.

No one will accept him. No one would like to either have a werewolf at their school or take the risk and the responsibility for it.

Remus Lupin is standing in the kitchen all by his own with a steady breathing. His left hand is hanging down beside his leg, while holding an envelope and the right one has a tight grip on the yellowish letter. He stares wide-eyed at those words as if they would perform a dance on the parchment; reading them over and over again.

* * *

_HOGWARTS SCHOOL __of__ WITCHCRAFT __and__ WIZARDRY_

_Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore_

_(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,  
Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)_

_Dear Mr. Lupin,_

_We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. _

_P__lease find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment._

_Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Minerva McGonagall_

_Deputy Headmistress_

* * *

That's cruel.

Remus is not moving or turning his gaze away, still scanning the letters which are forming those fateful words and he feels his grip tightens around the letter. Slowly his shock and unbelieving are turning into anger.

When his parents still believed in a cure for lycanthropy, his father told him that every magical child will receive such a letter and that the magical education will start with it as soon as they turn eleven. His father often said that this is supposed to be a very special day for all families with magical children, well, for all except of his own.

It's cruel to hold this letter in his hands, knowing that he will never be able to attend Hogwarts, regardless of how much he wants to.

"Remus?" he winces as he notices the voice of his father, sounding as much helpless as sympathetic.

He didn't even notice him entering the kitchen, but the door from there to the garden is open and his father is standing right in front of him, so he had to enter at some point. Hell, he doesn't even know for how long he is already staring at this stupid letter.

"What is that?" his father asks with no curiosity, obviously knowing what it only can be.

"A mistake"

Remus throws the letter in the trash beside an old, shabby dickory dock. It took him a lot to keep his voice steady. After a deep breath, he turns around in an instant to leave the kitchen, before stopping dead, remembering his manners and waiting for a possible reaction of his father. He couldn't just leave him out in the cold, if said one plans on going to comfort him. Even then, if that's actually the last thing he wants right now. He just wants to go and leave this letter far behind. He needs to leaf through a book to remind himself that he doesn't need to go to school to learn what's written in it.

Remus doesn't dare to look his father in the eye, afraid of giving to many emotions away. His parents sacrificed most parts of their lives to keep him safe and assist him as much as possible at every full moon. He doesn't want to trouble them even more.

Since, surprisingly, his father doesn't seem to get ready to react in any way, Remus walks upstairs into his room, where stacks of books galore have their place. He takes outright seven books, just in case, and makes his way into the garden, passing his father, who sits now at the kitchen table with a cigarette, looking towards a blank wall.

Remus can see through the veil of thoughts, which is flattering in his father's mind. He knows how much they love him. That's something they prove every month anew. That's where Remus is getting his strength to keep going, yet, sometimes, it can also be the most painful thing.

That's why he has to get over it and forget the small glimpse of hope. He will re-enter this old, wooden house smiling, so that his parents can smile with him.

The sun shines slightly through the overcast sky, while the icy wind flows through his kempt brown hair. It's the middle of February, so the weather is anything but perfect for sitting outside, from what Remus doesn't take any further notice though. He's already lost in 'History of Magic' by Bathilda Bagshot, when he sits down carefully beside a tree.

The time passes by and after several hours the clouds above him ousted the sun completely. The early letter is already forgotten, when Remus is stuck right in the middle of the third book. He loves said book especially and had read it seven times by now. The different tales are just as fascinating as Beedle the Bard himself. Every tale is special in its own way, but the one Remus loves the most is 'The Warlock's Hairy Heart'.

"Dinner, Remus!" His mother's voice rings through the garden to catch Remus' attention.

The boy marks the page, puts the book to his side under the tree, where the others are still stacked and rushes inside the house as he shouts "I'm coming!"

The smell of freshly cooked tomatoes and different spices strikes his nose as soon as he enters the kitchen and a closed-mouthed smile is sneaking on his face. His mother makes the best tomato soup in both worlds; the muggle as well as the wizarding one.

Remus sits down at the small, wooden table, where his parents already waited for him and leads the spoon, filled with the red liquid, to his mouth. He just notices how hungry he has grown during all the reading.

"You came home very late yesterday. Did something happen at work?" Hope asks her husband with a tang of worry.

Remus stares at his father now with great curiosity, because he has actually wondered about the same thing at bed time yesterday.

"It was ridiculous. A poltergeist lodged itself in the Department of Magical Games and Sports. They couldn't get rid of it, so they consulted me, since it is part of my special field. Of course there was no time to waste. The ministry makes always such a fuss about everything."

"But I thought there is no way to get rid of a poltergeist?" Hope's confusion is mirrored in her face. She is still, after all those years, a bit unsure about the magical facts, she learned by now.

Remus doesn't say a word; instead he listens carefully, while he continues to eat his soup before it gets even the chance to become cold.

"Exactly, that's what I told them, but it seems like they wanted me to find one. It's still there though." Mr. Lupin pauses to take a spoonful of the soup in front of him. "They're not happy about it, but they have to arrange somehow. Having said this …" He pauses again and turns his gaze towards his son. "Would you be so kind to get the salt and the basil from the cupboards back there?" Lyall points at the kitchen cupboards, which are standing just a few feet away from the table, but still far enough that they're separated by a kitchen counter and some space to work properly.

While Remus gets the salt, his father leans forward and continues in an undertone.

"I heard some rumors at work. It seems like there is a new law in progress, which contains a stricter regulation, and within that a new and stricter classification of so called 'beasts'. They want to get them shunned out of society completely."

Remus hears every word, even so he pretends not to. He always had a good hearing, but could never tell if it's good by nature or thanks to his condition. It's also very helpful that his father never owned the ability of whispering. Still, for his parent's sake, he simply keeps searching for the spices.

"Isn't it hard enough for them already? Should we be worried?" says Hope with a pained expression.

"I'm not sure yet. It's hard to tell. It doesn't seem to have priority for the Ministry though, but this law has some powerful proponents. I heard the Blacks strongly approve of it."

Remus has heard a lot about the Black family. Every wizard in Great Britain knows who the Blacks are. They're one of the last remaining pureblood families in wizarding Britain and by far too proud of that fact, as rumors have it. Unfortunately they are really powerful, due to their immense wealth and valuable contacts in the Ministry of Magic. They, as much as some other pureblood families, like the Malfoys or the Lestranges, think of themselves as superior over others, just because they have a purely magical heritage. He never met one though.

It patters against the window panes and Remus gets out of his thoughts. He turns his gaze from the cupboards to the windows and notices the several raindrops, streaming down on them, before all of the sudden the rain is coming down in sheets and there isn't a single dry area anymore.

"MY BOOKS" He shouts, what jolts both, Hope and Lyall out of their conversation.

Remus jumps up and storms out into the garden, just to re-enter the house a minute later. He's standing in the entrance, his hair is dripping wet and all of his books are badly stowed under his sweater and tightly embraced by the young boy's arms. Hope's hand rushes over her mouth to suppress laughter, yet the wide smile forces her eyes to crinkle and the message is transmitted anyway. Apparently his parents are highly amused at his sight.

Remus shakes his head wildly from side to side like a wet dog would do, what makes his mother break out into laughter after all.

"Wait there honey, I'll get you a towel." Her voice still sounds amused, when she makes her way to get what she promised.

Remus sorts his books around the fireplace and his dad kindles the fire with a motion of his wand. Seven of his favorite books and one is wetter than the others. Well, it's not that bad for 'poems of pishogue's world', most of those sonnets are crap, but he really hopes that the other six won't be too wavy after drying.

The rest of the day ends peacefully with a party of chess between his father and him. Remus dares to say that he is a talented chess player – his pieces trust him completely and would never question his decisions - but he rarely wins against his dad. The pieces are always as shocked as he is, when one of their own gets smashed and would discuss loudly how this could have happened (they didn't see that coming) and reassure Remus that his decision was perfectly logical and that they had just bad luck. This time though, it was a draw, what only means that there will be a rematch tomorrow.

The next full moon is not even a week ahead and Remus tenses, whenever he thinks about it, but at the same time the few days before a full moon are always the most wonderful of the month, because his parents spend so much more time with him on those. His dad will bring his work home and let Remus even help sometimes; not often though as most of the Ministry's business is not meant for unauthorized ten years old. After that, they would play chess or they would both help his mom to make dinner, if she isn't showing her boys how to play soccer in the garden. Remus starts to get the hang of it, but his dad has great trouble with this kind of sport and always shouts loudly that he rather sticks to Quidditch.

Unfortunately the more fun they have, the faster the days go by and at the end of the week the full moon is dangerously near to shine brightly over the country.

His parents escort him down to the basement, where they open the armor-plated door that leads now into an empty room and Remus tenses almost immediately. He is always surprised at how cold and lifeless this room seems to be. There is nothing in that room, just the cold walls and a battered couch. His father enters it first, putting blankets and water on the couch, before he reaches out a hand to his son. Remus understands and enters as well. He stands beside his dad, when his mum comes in at last.

His father kneels down to look his son straight in the eyes and puts a hand on the tiny shoulder.

"Remember not to move too much after you turned back, okay? And drink the water." He says hastily and draws Remus in a tight hug.

His mother, also on her knees by now, turns her son around to look at her. Remus can see how hard she is trying to fight her tears off and to be strong for her son, but he notices them anyway, just as much as the slight shaking in his father's hug.

"We'll be back in the morning, okay honey?" She pauses to cup his face in her hands. "You'll manage. I know you will. You are so brave!" Again she pauses, but instead to continue, she leans forward to kiss him on the cheek and hug him tight without the slightest intention of ever letting go.

"It's time. We have to go." Lyall says as he moves closer, slightly pulling his wife away.

Hope understands and nods towards her husband. She shortly hugs her son again and with a hand in his hair and her mouth near his ear she whispers "We love you."

Another kiss and Remus stands alone. Loved, but at the mercy of the full moon.

He was just trying to remember what had woken him up when it comes again.

_Tock – tock- tock- _

_Tock – tock- tock-_

This permanent poking against glass is sending waves of pain through his head and with every poke his head rebels anew.

Tock – tock- tock-

He can't take it anymore. Against his better judgement Remus stands up, crawls out of bed and turns towards the unnerving sound. His view is slightly blurry due to his hasty movements, but he recognizes the source of evil nonetheless.

An elegant feathered owl is waiting on his windowsill and constantly poking against the glass. Remus moves forward to open it, very slowly though. His head is still pounding and he feels utterly weak, so it's hard for him to stay without falling over, let alone to move, but he manages somehow and within a little jump the owl is waiting inside of his room now.

Remus just notices the letter around the owl's ankle and frees the animal from it.

He pets the owl's head, before opening the post and seconds later he stands there once again with this rubbish, yellowish letter in one and the attendant envelope in the other hand. He scans this letter open-mouthed. It's the seventh one he got from Hogwarts. He received one each day and every letter suffered the same fate as the previous one. It landed in the trash. He thought that it would be enough not to answer but apparently he is wrong.

Before he can think twice about it, Remus steps in front of his desk, grips a pen and scrawls letters on the backside of the yellowish parchment.

* * *

_I'm sorry to decline your offer, but I won't attend your school._

_Sincerely Remus Lupin_

* * *

Without reviewing his answer, he inserts the letter back into the envelope, switches the address with the headmaster's name and binds it back to the leg of the patient animal.

He watches the light brown owl heading off, before he stumbles back over to his bed. He is still not fully recovered from the full moon just a few hours ago and desperately needs to rest. He just wants to lie down and catch up on some sleep, before the next owl is poking against his window.

Luckily, silence is falling in his room. Without any further interruptions his eyes fall shut and as soon as the darkness surrounds him, he falls in a dreamless sleep.

When he opens his eyes, the sun appears strong and he has to squint. Soon after, he gives it a second try and opens his eyes very carefully this time.

Despite the freezing cold air, he could see the sun shining brightly through his room. Still Remus thoughts stick to the cold air as he notices that he is slightly shaking. A gaze towards the open window explains everything. How could he let it open?

It's the beginning of March, so the spring slowly arrives, but it is still far too cold to leave a window open overnight. Hopefully he didn't catch a cold. He gets out of bed to close the window and Remus wonders what time it possibly is.

He fell asleep at bright daylight, after he got rid of that owl, so either he slept a whole day or he slept for not even a few hours. Since he can stand without fainting and not all of his bones are cracking anymore, he assumes that it's probably the first possibility.

His bruises and scratches still cause pain, but it's not as bad as it was yesterday, what most likely has to do with the treatment he got from his parents during his day long sleep, regarding the half empty bottles of different medicines on his table.

He dresses, brushes his teeth, combs his hair and goes downstairs to satisfy his stomach, not ignoring the anxious looks on his parent's faces, when he enters the kitchen.

"I'm fine. It's not that bad." He knows that's a lie and furthermore it's clear that his parents know that too.

Hope eyes her husband, before she speaks up.

"Do you want something to eat? I'm just making some tea. Do you want toast with fried eggs?"

Remus nods and sits down at the wooden table, ignoring his pounding head and the pain caused by his hasty moves.

His father, who just enkindled the fireplace, comes over and sits down beside his son.

"I have some work to finish first, but what do you think of a game of Gobstones later?" his father says, nudging his shoulder.

"Yes!" Remus agrees eagerly and his father answers with a smile, before he gets up and walks towards his workroom.

"Ouh - and I thought you could finally teach me how to play wizarding chess. Such a shame." Hope pouts playfully.

"Oh I want to do that too! We can do it now, when dad is working, can we?!"

Hope laughs at the enthusiasm in her son's voice and can't help, but being impressed by how fast her son always manages to get back to normal after every full moon. He naturally learns faster than both of his parents ever will, probably, but that he also accepted his life how it is now and learned to manage those transformations the best he could by so much faster than both, her husband and she, is remarkable. Then again, he was bitten at a very young age. He doesn't really know it differently. For him it will always be harder to understand and accept, why society is disregarding him that much and he will need so much longer to learn that they're wrong.

Hope serves the toast with the fried eggs.

"Sure. That sounds like a good plan, but first you'll eat something!" She says and strokes Remus hair affectionately.

So Remus spends the day tutoring his mother in chess and it turns out that she is a natural talent. Remus and his father will have to watch out.

In the late afternoon Remus and his dad are right in the middle of their second game of Gobstones. Even if he can't beat his dad in chess, he sure can here. His father is one of the most terrible Gobstone player in the whole wizarding world and he wouldn't win in the Muggle version 'Marbles' either.

"Okay, if we keep playing, I think I will need a raincoat." His dad demands after his seventh squirt of foul-smelling liquid into his face and Remus laughs in unison with his mother.

_Knock. Knock._

All heads turned in the same direction and silence falls. Lyall eyes his wife, before standing up.

"Wait here Remus. We'll be right back and then this game will be played until the bitter end." He smiles down at Remus and leaves the room to open the front door.

Remus can't see his parents anymore, so he tries to compensate with his good hearing, but all he hears are voices, not words.

He decides that it makes no sense to eardrop, when you can't hear a word and gives himself off to the Gobstones in front of him, already figuring out how to aim his next stone.

_Knock. Knock._

Remus looks up at the half-glass door, which leads into the garden, and sees an old man, who waves at him. He wears long robes and a purple cloak, which is just outshined by his light blue eyes, behind which still a sparkle of youth seems to hide, despite his age.

He hesitates a second, but stands up and opens the door.

"Hello?"

"Good evening. Is this the house of the Lupin family, if yes, may I come in? Oh, I might add that I'm an old friend of your father."

"I … I don't know." Remus turns around towards the front door, where his parents still have to be, even if he can't see it from where he is. "Da- …"

Remus stops in his actions, as he sees, not his dad entering the room, but the old man sitting in front of the Gobstones. His gaze turns from the old man to the now empty space in front of the half-glass backdoor and back again.

"How did you do that?" he asks amazed.

The tall man with the long, silver hair and beard that could be tucked easily into his belt turns around to face him and Remus notices a mischievous smile.

"I think I could just tell you that Mr. Lupin, but life is full of challenges. What about a game of Gobstones?"

Remus, slightly confused about that man, agrees and soon after the game starts.

Remus is pitching his first stone as the older man starts a conversation "Can I ask what you're doing, when your parents can't play Gobstones with you?"

Remus is surprised by this forthright question, but doesn't see the harm in answering it.

"Reading I guess. I read most of the time." He answers slightly reserved.

"Personally, I'm a big fan of the tales of Beedle the Bard. I still read it from time to time. There is nothing that can be as adventurous and educational as a good book." The old man tells him and aims his stone as Remus finds his courage to answer confidently.

"A good book is nothing without an open mind, who wants to read it. It's neither adventurous nor educational as long as it's closed."

The old man beams at him in approval. His beard follows the corner of his mouth upwards.

"I have to agree to that Mr. Lupin." Remus' hand stretches out. He just notices that he never introduced himself properly.

"My name is Remus." Whoever that man is, Remus finds himself liking him.

When his parents re-enter the room, Remus can see their shocked expressions. They even seem frightened. He stares at his parents and back at the old man, who faces away from the Gobstones now.

"With all respect Sir, I never gave you the permission to enter my house." Lyall says in a strict tone that Remus never heard from his father before. Whatever is happening right now seems to be a serious matter.

"No you didn't." The old man nods. "But I can assure you that you want to listen to what I have to say."

He turns to face Remus.

"Have you ever heard of Hogwarts?" A little taken aback, Remus lowers his hand.

"Yes. I've read a lot about it. It's one of the best, if not the best school of witchcraft and wizardry in the United Kingdom. The school's history is most interesting. It's hidden to Muggles and you can't apparate or disapparate to, or from within Hogwarts. They also have and enchanted ceiling, plus enchanted stairs. It's a highly magical place." Remus stops with a slight blush. He started to ramble, before he could help himself. At least he didn't say anything about the letters he received. That could lead to unwanted topics.

"Can I ask … for your name, sir?" He adds quickly to distract from his rambling.

"Oh, I thought you would know that already, since you're the one, who invited me."

He stares blankly back and forth between his parents, who seem as shocked and confused as he is. Then, he turns back to the old man.

"I'm sorry, sir, but there must be a mistake. I didn't send an invitation to anyone."

The old man doesn't answer; instead he reached for a letter in a pocket of his robes under the cloak and gives it to Remus.

"I thought today is the perfect day to visit the peaceful countryside. Don't you think?"

This is … this is the letter he got from Hogwarts yesterday. The one that includes his answer, which he sent to …

And now it strikes him. This is Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts. Nevertheless Remus is still puzzled. This wasn't supposed to be an invitation.

"I got your letter this morning from a well-behaving owl. I don't remember to have ever received a letter, in which a young boy himself tells me that he doesn't want to attend my school."

Remus sinks his head, his eyes focused on the wooden table. He feels Dumbledore's eyes on him and he feels guilty. He doesn't know why. He shouldn't. It's not his fault that he can't go to school, but he does feel guilty.

"It's … well it's not … that I don't want to, but …" He doesn't know how to finish this sentence and lets it hang in the air with no intentions to ever complete it.

"Then let me tell you that I'm well aware of your situation and I don't see any reason, why you shouldn't get the privilege of learning."

Silence fills the room and his facial feature slips into shock and disbelieve. He looks helpless at his parents, but they also seem to be puzzled and taken-aback. The silence stays for nearly three minutes, before Remus finds his voice.

"But … I'm categorized as a beast. I'm dangerous. I could hurt someone or worse, I could even turn them into something like me." His voice gains more speed towards the end, slightly panicked by the thoughts.

Remus couldn't tell later on, if he just imagined it, but for a moment the old man looked pained.

"Of course I wouldn't expose my students to such a danger, if I think it would be impossible to handle this situation safely." Dumbledore nods assuring in Remus direction, before he also turns to assure his parents and then back to Remus. "And the only thing I see here is a young, polite and very gentle boy, who has the chance of becoming the smartest wizard at Hogwarts."

Remus stares wide-eyed and still full of disbelieve in the other one's eyes. He's trying to comprehend, what's going on right now, but he seems to fail. It's not possible that the old man want to take the responsibility for having a dangerous werewolf in his school.

Unsure and overwhelmed, he searches for his mother's eyes, trying to find any proof of reality. His mother is close to tears, but smiling widely.

"But … Professor ", he tries again to make this man understand, but gets interrupted quickly.

"There is nothing to worry about Mr. Lupin. My trustworthy stuff and I are going to take care of this in the best way possible. Neither you nor any of the other students are going to be in more harm than usual."

Dumbledore eyes Remus searching, but the boy doesn't say a word.

"And it is rally safe?" As much as Remus, Lyall still can't believe what Dumbledore offers here.

"He will be as safe as any other student in Hogwarts and let me assure you that Hogwarts is the safest place you can be."

Remus still can't comprehend the old man's words, as much as he wants to. He needed so many years to just accept the fact that he will never be able to attend a school and now some stranger pays a visit and decides that he can and everything shall be fine. He can go to school, he can study and become a great wizard and he can spend his time with other children. That's …

Remus can't help it, but feel how the excitement fills up his whole body. He will go to school and meet other children. But what if he doesn't? What if this is all some big, bad kind of joke?

"The only thing that's missing, I'm afraid, is the acknowledgement of Mr. Lupin and the blessing of his parents."

Dumbledore's gaze wanders from one Lupin to another, before it settles, again, on Remus.

"Do you want to go to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry?"

Remus hesitates a second, before he nods.

"Yes. I would love to, sir." His voice still sounds unconvinced, but pleading.

He hears his mother sobbing and notices the closed-mouthed smile on Dumbledore's face, only outdone by the broadly and incandescent grin of his father.

Dumbledore nods and raises from the chair. "Well, I'll be on my way then, since everything seems clear now. I have to attend another meeting. I just have the feeling that the next one won't be as pleasant as this one." The last part is more of a mutter as Dumbledore is already halfway through the door.

"Oh." The old man turns around, slightly waving his forefinger in mid-air. "I assume that you haven't forgotten about the enclosed list of all necessary books and equipment." He pointedly stares at Remus, but assures him with a friendly smile right after, and turns back to leave the house. "Thanks for the short game of Gobstones." And with that he leaves the Lupins behind in silence.

Mr. and Mrs. Lupin walk both towards their son and sit down beside him. His mother hugs him tight, her eyes still watery with tears of joy and his father lays proudly a hand on his son's shoulder with a wide grin that shows some teeth.

Remus Lupin, however, just scans those fateful words on the yellowish parchment and realises that today is the day his father had spoken so often about, when he was younger. The special day, which comes for every wizarding family, including his.

Remus goes pale. "Can we even afford all of this? I mean all those books and all the rest of the equipment. That must coast a lot."

His parents just smile at him. "Don't worry about that. You will have everything that's written on this list as soon as the school starts."

Well … he figured there is still enough time…


End file.
